My first WRX Hatch.

Hey there Motorheads! I am embarrassed to say that I am a car enthusiast however this is my first car write-up/review. I'm a 32 year old professional resident of the Baltimore-Metro area. Over the past 12 years, I have purchased a new vehicle every one to two years. In my true format, I decided to buy a 2012 WRX Premium 10 months ago. In the time I have owned the Subie, many people, old and young, have approached me to compliment the car and pick my brain. They always ask "How do you like it?", to which I reply "I HATE IT!". I feel like a spoiled brat when it is another Subaru owner asking me the question. Here is my quick background on the cars that have been in my family. I have owned an MK4 and MK5 GTI, a 1990 Corrado G60, 2 Scion XB's, a Toyota Celica, a Dodge Truck, and a Chevy Lumina (in college). Out of every car, I am most disappointed with my 2012 WRX. I also have a broad range of knowledge when it comes to late model cars. My father owns an 1999 H1, a 2003 H2, and a 2009 Nissan GTR. In the past, he has owned 5 and 6 series BMWs. My point in mentioning these cars is that I have driven every one of these cars at length which further broadens my range of cars. I also sold cars out of college for two years and loved it. The bottom line is that the 2012 WRX Hatchback Premium is the most overpriced cars when it comes to the value that you are receiving. My biggest complaint comes from the interior of this car. Hands down, it sucks! I'm not going into every detail when it comes to gauges, seats, A/C controls, ride, feel etc. From a performance standpoint, the car is ok and I give it a 6.5/7.0 out of 10. Onto the interior, from day one, the passenger side door rattled to the point of insanity. Since I came from the car industry, I knew that a service writer would not be able to "duplicate the problem". If you want to hear annoying, sit in my drivers seat and go to work. The sound of rattles in your right ear will make you want to punch your grandmother. This was an issue that I fixed myself with a lot of dynamat. The next complaint is the stereo. My 1996 Chevy Lumina had a better sounding system from A/C Delco. My $15k scion sounded flawless compared to the WRX. Six speakers in this car and I hear nothing but noise. It sucks! Now on to the heated seat. The drivers side heated seat gets warm for five minutes and then turns off. The car is currently at the dealership for this issue and I have been told that this is normal. The seat is meant to go to 85-102 degrees and shut off until it drops to a cold temperature. This is not why I purchased heated seats. No car that I have ever driven has shut off like this. While my car is in the shop, they are also repairing the center console lid which will not stay closed. I understand that the lid problem could happen to any car and I am willing to forgive this issue. The straw that broke my back with complaints is when Subaru provided me with a 2012 Outback as a loaner. Now this is a nice car!! I almost threw up when I opened the glove box to find that the monroney sticker showed the Outback at $4500 less than my car. The interior is very well appointed with power seats, the stereo doesn't suck and the car is much larger. I understand that I am not comparing apples-to-apples but why does Subaru charge so much more for the WRX? All that money can't all be in the turbo?!?!?! Simple things are on the outback like the key and transponder are one. My WRX still has a separate key vs. transponder. To end this long winded/white people problem story, I hate the WRX from a price-to-value standpoint and I will never buy one again. I kick myself for making such a bad decision.

I wonder if he knows that the WRX is purely designed to go as fast as possible in the worst conditions imaginable.
------------------"If you do what you love you'll never work a day in your life." -Roti

I understand that the WRX is built for performance but the performance is not all that. I added Cobb stage two software and other required stage 2 hardware. The car is definitely faster but still not worth the $$. I expect criticism and haters from my rant because all forums do that. I just needed to vent and simply state that the WRX is not worth the money. With regards to "white people problems", it is simply a play off of the blog (whitepeopleproblems.us).

I am with you 100%. I just took possession of my 2012 WRX Hatch having previously owned a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3. To your points: the interior of the WRX is crap. All of the plastic rattles constantly. There are hatch rattles, pillar rattles, dash buzzes, stereo vibrations. I actually took the hatch trim off, put weather stripping closed cell tape on every contact point, installed open cell foam to insulate each piece and still it rattles. The car has been in the shop 3 tmes in a month for the noises and each time I got an Outback loaner.............silence. WTF? The WRX head unit is garbage. My MSP3 had a Bose system in it, no amp, and blew the WRX away. I brought this car for the performance aspect of it, but at this price it should have no interior noise other than the turbo spooling. I replaced ALL of the panel clips on the interior panels with Nissan push clips. They come with a small rubber gasket on the head which helped eliminate some of the panel rattles, but I am still searching for more. Subaru should take note that a little clip modification like that goes a long way towards customer satisfaction. If I wanted rattles, I'd have spent 15K less and gota Hyunda or a Kia. For this money I should be smiling without having to put my foot to the floor. Never again. Going back to Mazda and some peace and quiet.